A/N Holy guacamole Batman you guys are AWESOME! I am so sorry for the delay. I got a little distracted working on the companion story I've been mentioning before called "Made Me Realize" which is (mostly) Dipper's POV of what's happening in the other timeline. If you were wondering what's going on in that world, the first three chapters are up now so if you haven't yet I hope y'all check it out!

Anyway, the response has been amazing! I think a few shout-outs is in order!

MabelPinesRules: Thank you for the review! You don't have to apologize for not reviewing, as I said I understand that people get busy and I don't expect people to leave comments, but they do make me happy and I'm relieved that I was just being paranoid!

foreversmilin: Wow! It's kind of awesome to know you read this all in one sitting! I must be doing something right! Glad to know I have a new fan!

Emmsta and guest: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it!

Nelli3: Aw, you're awesome, you know that? I don't know where the ideas come from, but this show has been a huge inspiration! The fact that "Not What He Seems" was so amazing, leaving so much potential for what could happen next and the following hiatus keeping us waiting, it helps keep me going because I need to fill that void somehow, right?

The Last Deathly Guardian: OK, epic username for one thing, secondly thanks for the review, I'm glad the last chapter cleared a few things up and that you're enjoying this.

gravityfalls22: Technically she's only fainted three times, unless you're counting the first timeline which would make it four, but she's had a couple of close calls. Poor girl is really getting put through the ringer in this one, isn't she? I'm glad you liked 'hearing' Mabel's internal struggle with telling Dipper and I WISH I could be in leagues with Alex, you know how AWESOME that would be? But alas, I am not. But if someone wants to put in a good word on my behalf...nudge nudge wink, wink! I'm not sure what the purpose of all the characters on the Cipher Wheel is, but I'm very curious to find out. I always intended to bring it up in this as I did, but I was going to do it later but because of you I introduced it sooner. After all, Mabel does want to know what he has to gain from shutting down the portal and the wheel may or may not provide some insight. I hope you will be allowed to email me (it's my username jadefirefly3d at yahoo dot ca (the site won't allow links)). Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer! I ALWAYS look forward to reading your musings and thoughts.

RockSunner: I'm glad Dipper's now (partially) involved too, I love protective Dipper and I love when the Mystery Twins work together. Thanks as always for the comments!

NinNin618: Hello NinNin from Germany! Yes, I can get a little paranoid sometimes but I definitely feel better now! Thanks for the review! I'm happy that you like it.

privateandcadet: Hi! I'm glad you're here!

shootingstar34: I know some people don't allow guest reviews, maybe that's why you had thought you couldn't leave one without an account? Anyway thanks for clicking on my story and sticking with me! I'm glad you like it!

Julia: Thanks! It's kind of awesome that you have this bookmarked! Means a lot!

HappyRaven379: Wow thanks for the compliments! It means a lot for me to get the characters right and if I managed to hit you in the feels, I'm doing something right! I'm happy that you like it so much!

KTDLover: I'm really glad this is one of your favorites! I'm especially glad you like my portrayal of Mabel as I find her to be one of the hardest characters to write for because she's so silly and random. It's part of the reason why I tend to put her in such dire situations where she'd be less silly and random. Does that make sense? Thanks so much for the review!

PurpleLightning12: Thanks so much for the huge compliment! It's really awesome that you read this in one sitting and really means a lot! I'm glad you like the mystery and suspense building and I hope that I don't disappoint!

Anyway, you guys are all so amazing! Here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

FUBAR

What's happening? Mabel wonders, as the ground shakes beneath them. Dipper drapes himself over her protectively as they wait out the earthquake. Both of them on their hands and knees on the ground where they had landed after the gravity anomaly. Do earthquakes even reach as far as Gravity Falls? She worries because while parts of California has had its share of earthquakes, she's not sure about central Oregon. Did the Portal cause this?

Fortunately the earthquake is short lived and when she looks around after the earth stops moving, there's not a lot of major damage. Most of the damage surrounding them seems to be from the gravity anomaly from what she can see from her vantage point. She breathes a sigh of relief, still unnerved though from the faint smell of sulphur remaining from her fiery vision.

"You OK?" Dipper asks when it's over.

Mabel nods, though she's not quite sure. She aches everywhere and is pretty certain she's got a few new bruises, not to mention yet another bloody and bruised puncture mark on her arm from pulling her stupid IV free. Her ankle seems to hurt even more than it did before and her shoulder throbs, hot and unrelenting. "As good as can be expected I think. You?"

"Y-yeah…" he nods, equally uncertain, a wince crossing his face as he grasps his arm just below his elbow, "What the heck was that?"

"I don't know, I thought—Dipper you're bleeding!" Mabel gasps when she sees blood creeping through his fingers where he holds his arm.

He looks at it, almost surprised, "Crap," he moans, his wince deepening.

"Let me see…" she doesn't give him the chance to protest, she just grabs his arm and pulls him towards her, prying his fingers from the wound to see a nasty looking scrape bleeding rather profusely. You weren't supposed to get hurt! She hisses in sympathy, "You need to get that looked at, it looks bad."

"I think I scraped it when we landed after the gravity went all weird again," he muses, taking a tentative look at the wound and hissing at the sight, "looks worse than it feels though."

"Good, but you still need to get that taken care of," Mabel frowns, feeling a little guilty because Dipper had gone out of his way to break her fall and now he's hurt, "keep putting pressure on that!" She instructs as she starts to push herself to her feet only to be stopped by Dipper.

"What are you doing?"

"We gotta get back, remember?"

"But you can't walk, remember?"

"Well the stupid wheelchair is kinda smashed," Mabel points out, gesturing to the chair in question. The anomaly had lifted it pretty high before it was dropped on its side, all bent out of shape, "and you need to get your arm looked at, like, as soon as possible bro-bro."

"And you have a busted ankle and almost passed out again," he retorts.

"Keyword here is 'almost' Dip," she grins weakly.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better about your well-being, Mabes," he rolls his eyes, pushing himself to his feet, grabbing the two journals and stowing them away in his vest with his free hand. "Stay here, you can't walk so I'll find another chair."

"Uh-uh, not a chance," she says shaking her head, tensing at the thought of being left alone, even for a couple of minutes. "Please Dipper, don't leave me alone."

"I don't really want to but…" he sighs, "OK. Come on," he helps her up with his free hand. They don't need to say anything else, he just clutches at his wound while she wraps her arms around him, grasping him for support as he helps her limp back to the hospital. Every step is agony on her ankle, but fortunately one of the hospital orderlies had apparently seen them struggling and headed their way with another chair and Mabel's both grateful to have it, and resentful of her need for it.

"What happened?" the orderly asks, as Mabel eases into the chair. "You kids OK?"

"He hurt his arm during the gravity anomaly," Mabel explains.

"Gravity anomaly?" the orderly looks confused, "There was another one?"

"You didn't feel it?" Dipper asks.

"No, but apparently there's reports of them happening randomly throughout town, and that earthquake just now…I don't think we've ever had an earthquake here before!" he replies.

Oh this isn't good…not good, not good. This isn't supposed to happen! Is the other timeline having this issue? Is this what happens when you shut the Portal down once the timer's set? It wasn't bad this time, but what if it happens again?

Mabel chews her hair, glancing at the blood staining Dipper's hand as he clutches his wound. She's not usually squeamish around blood, and it's not like Dipper hadn't been hurt before, nor is the injury all that serious in the whole scheme of things, but this time is different. This time she can't help but feel responsible, and not just because he scraped his arm while trying to break her fall when gravity returned to normal.

Dipper side glances at her, You OK? He asks silently with his eyes and she nods quickly.

The orderly leads them back inside and takes them to the ER where they immediately take Dipper into one of the curtained cubicles to look after his arm.

"I'm really beginning to hate this place," Dipper quips, sitting on the gurney as he presses some gauze they had given him to his wound as they wait for someone to be free to clean and dress it properly.

"You're hating it? I'm the one who's stuck staying here," Mabel rolls her eyes tiredly, giving him a small smile.

"Well, hopefully they'll let you come home tonight," he says.

"Oh man I hope so," Mabel agrees. "How you holdin' up?" she asks, tilting her chin to his arm.

"It stings, but it could be worse," he shrugs, hissing when he lifts the gauze to take a peek, "ugh, looks ugly though."

"Mabel Pines?" one of the ER nurses says, "Looks like you're supposed to be scheduled for some tests."

She glances at her brother fearfully, she realizes she's being clingy, but she's terrified of being separated from him, "Can't it wait until I know my brother's OK?" she begs.

"Sweetie, he's just got a nasty looking scrape and he's in good hands," the nurse assures her, "a doctor will be by in just a few minutes to patch him up. He's fine."

"You're not going to be alone, there will be nurses and doctors with you for your tests," Dipper points out, "and I'm fine here. I'll meet you in your room when they're done fixing me up. Besides, the sooner you get it over with, sooner you're free right?"

"I guess," Mabel sighs, grasping his free hand and giving it a squeeze.

"We're going to figure this out," Dipper says reassuringly, squeezing her hand back in return. He doesn't need to say another word for her to know what he's talking about. I know you're going to do what you can to protect me from the Wraiths, just…be careful OK? I don't want you to get hurt again. He seems to know what she's thinking when he adds, "It'll be OK. I promise."

Just as the nurse is about to take her away Grunkle Stan tentatively pokes his head through the curtain, relieved to see them. "I swear you kids are going to give me a heart attack!" he exclaims gruffly before turning to Dipper, "What happened to you kid?"

"When we were outside for some air there was another anomaly, just before the earthquake," Dipper explains, "It's just a scrape, looks worse than it is."

"When the nurses paged me to come to the ER after that quake, which by the way never happens here as long as I can tell, I feared the worst, you do realize, right?" Stan asks.

"Sorry Grunkle Stan," Mabel feels herself getting emotional again. Random gravity anomalies, an earthquake and now Dipper's hurt…did I do this somehow? Because if it was the Portal then…but it couldn't have been the Portal could it? If it's no longer activated, if it never opened how…? She closes her eyes, anxiety building up again as she wonders if it was all part of Bill's plan or if it was something else. Maybe it was inevitable no matter what she did, maybe the other timeline is experiencing similar anomalies but either way, as absurd as it seems, she can't shake the feeling that she's partially responsible somehow, even if indirectly.

"It's OK kiddo," Stan sighs, patting her on the shoulder, stopping when she hisses in pain and he realizes it's the one with the hand shaped bruise. "Oh, sorry!"

"Can Stan go with her for the tests?" Dipper asks, quickly glancing at Mabel.

"Well..." the nurse sounds unsure, "We kind of need him here at the moment...there's more paperwork and forms we need him to fill out."

"Oh goodie," Stan rolls his eyes sarcastically, "More paperwork. Hurray."

"It's OK," Mabel says, "like you said, I won't be alone. There'll be doctors and nurses around."

"I expect we'll be finished here before you're done all the tests," the nurse says.

"Great, we'll meet you when you're done," Dipper grins, "You'll be fine."

Mabel nods, wiping her eyes, feeling a little silly for being so paranoid, even if it is justified considering everything. "OK. You make sure they take good care of my bro-bro!" Mabel orders Stan.

"I will," he chuckles

"Don't worry," the nurse smiles warmly, "he's in good hands."

"And you take good care of my sister!" Dipper adds with a smile before wincing slightly when he glances down at his bleeding arm. "Ow, ow, ow!"

The nurse wheels her off for her tests. The entire time she's tense with anxiety, especially when she's left alone for a few minutes as the nurses or whoever is with her has to leave for whatever reason. By the time she's done getting poked and prodded and scanned she's exhausted.

Dipper and Stan are there in her room waiting for her when she arrives. Dipper's got a white bandage covering the scrape on his arm but he seems fine, and Mabel's so glad to see that he's OK. Yeah, it wasn't anything too serious, but considering all that had happened, she can't help but be worried about him.

"How're you doing sis?" he asks as she's settles back into bed.

"Glad to be done with all that," she replies tiredly.

"Well, hopefully the results will give us good news," Stan says.

Mabel closes her eyes, "I hope so. I want to get out of here." She glances over at the other bed which is still unoccupied. She sees her other self for just a glimpse, and then she's gone. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to will the apparition away, never to return.

"You OK?" Dipper asks, resting his hand on her arm, catching the fear in her eyes.

"Yeah, just tired and…you know," she admits pointedly.

"Did you…?"

Did I what? Kinda sorta see a ghost? "Yeah, just now."

Dipper glances towards the other bed where she had been looking, a worried look on his face. "It's OK now," she assures him, "especially with you guys here."

"What are you kids talking about?" Stan asks, catching on to the fact that there's something they're saying that's left unsaid.

Dipper looks her in the eyes, Should we tell him? He asks silently, not having to say a word. She shakes her head and he nods in understanding. It's not that she doesn't trust Stan, because she does, it's just that she doesn't quite feel comfortable letting him in. Heck, even though it's a relief to have Dipper's help so she's not dealing with everything alone, she's still not entirely comfortable with Dipper knowing even just part of the problems she's been facing. The fact he got hurt shortly after telling him, even though it had nothing to do with her and was because of the gravity anomaly, it only reminds her of one of the many reasons why she's afraid to tell them.

"How's the arm?" she asks glancing at the bandage.

"Hurts a little," he shrugs, "it really stung when they were cleaning it out but it's better now and it didn't need stitches so…"

"That's good."

"I talked to Mom and Dad," Dipper says, "when you were getting tests done. They said they hope you feel better soon and wish they could be here. They might try and come up for the weekend if you're still sick."

Mabel wants to say she's fine, because she really truly doesn't feel sick, just tired, so she has to bite her tongue to keep from saying it since it would only lead to an argument that'll take them nowhere. Instead she merely nods with a small smile.

She likes the idea of Mom and Dad visiting, though it makes her slightly apprehensive that they might insist she and Dipper go back with them. Considering the anomalies apparently plaguing the town, the fact she's mysteriously sick and Grunkle Stan's looming legal troubles—because who knows how long before the Government Agents return—it's a very real possibility. But she doesn't want to leave and has a feeling Bill wouldn't like them going home either and she's not sure how to feel about that last part.

"And what is up with the gravity anomalies anyway? And the earthquake?" Dipper continues, looking to Stan for answers, "Are you sure it's not because of the Portal?"

"Kid, as I've said before, it's no longer even working and it was never fully activated," he sighs, "when Mabel shut it off, the anomalies should've stopped with it. I even looked over the machine last night and saw nothing that would indicate it's still even remotely active. I don't know why they're still happening. I'm just relieved that no one has been seriously hurt or worse because of them."

"Except Mabel," Dipper frowns.

"Dipper I'm fi—we don't know what's wrong, don't go blaming Grunkle Stan," Mabel says with a tired sigh, seeing where this conversation is going. "Besides, it's not that bad."

"Oh really?" Dipper folds his arms, skeptical.

"Well, it could be worse, and it isn't." Trust me, it could be so much worse…

"It's bad enough," Dipper frowns and she knows he's not just referring to her mystery illness.

Mabel looks him in the eyes, nodding with understanding, "I know."

Without saying a word though, she can see in Dipper's eyes just how worried he is. He subconsciously reaches for the journal in his vest pocket and bites his lip, his piercing gaze saying so much. I'm going to fix this somehow. Don't worry I'm going to find a way to protect you. He doesn't have to say it for Mabel to know that's what he's thinking. They don't exactly have twin telepathy, but they know each other so well that sometimes words aren't necessary.

I know, but please be careful.

His frown turns into a reassuring grin and he nods.

"Anyway, we might not know what's wrong with you exactly, but we do know it's because of the Portal. The energy in that room, by the switch especially…it was weird and powerful and you were right next to it, Mabel," Dipper says, "And the anomalies and earthquake, they didn't start before the Portal was activated and it would be a crazy coincidence if they had nothing to do with it." He looks to Grunkle Stan, "So I think this is all because of Stan." He sounds mildly angry, but there's no accusation in his tone.

"If I had known this would happen….I never wanted you kids to get hurt. I just wanted my brother back."

"I know," Dipper's voice is surprisingly understanding, "but that's why we have to try and fix this."

"How?" Mabel asks worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but we need to figure this out somehow," Dipper replies, "before it gets worse."

Oh it will get worse…much worse…

The voice in the back of Mabel's mind startles her and she can vaguely smell smoke again.

Just you wait little one…

She glances towards the other bed and sees her other self lying moribund, her image is transparent and ghostly. The Wraiths stand at the foot of her bed mimicking her appearance, grinning an unnaturally wide grin as it waves knowingly at her. Her breath hitches in fear at the sight and she closes her eyes, but when she opens them again the apparition is gone.

"Mabel, it's OK," Dipper says, sensing her paranoia, "we're all in this together."

"Yeah, we'll figure this out," Stan agrees.

Before she can say anything in response a doctor comes in holding a chart, "Hello Mabel, how are you feeling today?"

"Great," she replies quickly, desperately, "can I go now?" I'm not safe here…

"Very funny," he says, "but unfortunately not yet. One more night at the very least, possibly two."

Mabel feels like she's going to cry. She hates it here and the thought of another night alone in this room is terrifying. Even if Dipper managed to find a way to protect her and keep the Wraiths from attacking her somehow, it wouldn't change the fact that they were still there, in such close proximity. And what about Bill?

The doctor continues, seemingly oblivious to her reaction. "We haven't gotten all your test results yet but so far there's not much improvement and I heard that you had another fainting incident?"

Mabel shoots Dipper a look, "Traitor," she pouts petulantly, but without any real anger, "Got a little dizzy I guess but I didn't pass out."

"Well, I'm still not satisfied with your blood counts and vitals and to be quite frank, considering everything we've seen so far, I'm rather amazed you're even conscious," he frowns, "So unless this latest round of tests gives us some solid answers, I'm afraid I may need to order more tests to try and find a proper diagnosis and unfortunately they're a little more invasive. So far we still can't find any cause of your symptoms, and any illness wouldn't come as quickly as it apparently did."

"What do you mean 'invasive'?" Mabel asks, tensing, "Like surgery?" Oh come on! It can't be that bad! I feel fine! This is ridiculous! Besides no test is going to tell you that I've got these mysterious symptoms because I'm still linked to another version of myself who's seriously injured in another timeline.

"Not quite, but some will require sedation," he says, "I hope it won't come to that but we'll know more when I get the rest of your results." He looks her over quickly, glances at the numbers on the monitor and scribbles something down on her chart before leaving.

"Just a quick check up, they said," Mabel grouses when he's gone, folding her arms and glaring at her family, "just to make sure, they said! I want to go home! I don't want to do more tests when I. Feel. FINE!"

"Whoa, jeez kid calm down," Stan exclaims, "I'm glad you're feeling OK, but it's better safe than sorry."

"I don't want to spend another night in this room alone!" she continues, feeling the stupid tears come, "And more tests!? I don't know why I keep passing out, I don't know why things look worse than they are but I'm fine!" She's not lying when she says this, because even though Bill explained the reason, the situation is all too overwhelming for it to make sense. "I'm tired, sure but I don't feel as sick as you all seem to think I am! Can't I just rest in our room in the Mystery Shack? I don't care if we have to come back for more check-ups and stuff, but why do I need to stay here?"

"Mabel," Dipper says soothingly, "I know why you don't want to stay here alone, but don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"How?" she cries. "And if we're all supposed to be in this together, what good am I if I'm stuck here?"

"Mabel honey," Stan leans forward, glancing at the monitor tracking her vitals, "you need to calm down, OK? I know you want to go home and believe me if I could make that happen I would but we're both worried about you."

"And you think I'm not worried about you?" Mabel asks.

"We're not the ones who are sick," Dipper points out gently.

"Doesn't matter," she replies, shaking her head vehemently, "With everything that's happened I don't like the idea of us being separated…you got hurt today Dipper."

"It was just a scrape…a nasty looking scrape but nothing serious," Dipper reminds her.

"This time! But what about next time?" Mabel snaps, "You got hurt and I can't shake the feeling that it's my fault somehow!"

"Really? I didn't realize that you had the power to turn off gravity…" Dipper muses jokingly, "Grunkle Stan did you know that she could do that?"

"Had no idea," Stan nods, playing along, "pretty impressive skills you got there kid. Bet you could make a decent living working for NASA."

Even when on the verge of an emotional breakdown she can't help but grin, giving a soft chuckle, "That's not what I mean! But what if they're back because I shut the Portal off? What if it reached a point where it couldn't be safely shut down? Is that possible?" What if my deal with Bill had something to do with this?

"Don't see how it could be, kid," Stan tells her, "but even if it were, it doesn't make it your fault. You're being ridiculous honey for thinking that way. If anyone should be taking the blame, it's me."

Oh but it is your fault little one…you should've just let go…

The voice in her head startles her and she twitches, burying her face in her hands.

"Mabel, it's going to be OK," Dipper soothes, combing his fingers through her hair, tucking the thick brown locks behind her ear.

You think it's bad now child? No, it's going to get worse, it's going to get so much worse…

"No!" she whimpers at the voice in the back of her mind, the familiar and terrifying voice, Go away! Go away! She rolls on her side, away from the empty bed beside her, knowing if she looks she'd just get another glimpse of the other timeline and see the Wraiths copy her image and attack. She grasps Dipper's hand, turning towards him instead, clutching his hand like a lifeline.

"Sweetie you need to calm down," Stan soothes, "you're making yourself sick…"

Just you wait…you should've just surrendered, you should've let go…and now your brother's going to burn…

Leave him alone!

Let go then child, let go and he will be spared…

"Mabel? Hey sis are you OK?" Dipper asks worriedly, as her pulse begins to race, the monitor she's connected to beeping in response. Stan leans forward, shifting in his seat, equally worried.

Go away, you can't get me here! And you're useless over there! You can't trick me!

The dream demon can't protect you forever…

Yes he can, and he will! She thinks, fully aware of how crazy it is that in that moment she's rooting for Bill Cipher, apparently the lesser of two evils this time around. It only cements the fact that she's completely screwed, even with Dipper's help. She might've surrendered to the Wraiths to keep him safe if it weren't for the knowledge that without her they're too weak to wreak havoc in the other timeline, and she's their only link to this timeline, which makes their threat against both Dippers empty. Staying strong and resisting with everything she has is the only way to keep everyone safe so she grits her teeth and fights with all she has as she rides through the wave of pain that's taken over her.

Of course he will little one, so long as you are still of use to him…but once he's done with you…you'll be ours…

She cries out in pain, the bruise on her shoulder burning like a brand as the invisible wound on her chest takes her breath away.

And yet where's your dream demon now?

"Mabel!" Dipper gently tries to get her to look at him but she squeezes her eyes shut with a whimper, her whole body tense. "Stan, get the doctor!"

"I'm on it!" she hears Stan reply but it barely registers.

"Mabel, what's wrong?" Dipper asks, his voice frantic, "It's the Wraiths…isn't it?" she nods quickly. He lets go of her hand and she instead clutches at her blankets with a white knuckled grip as she fights through the sudden pain. She's vaguely aware of the sound of him flipping through pages and she knows he's got one of the journals out in front of him.

There's no escape…just let go…surrender…stop fighting and everything will be all right.

No, no, no!

"Hold on, sis," Dipper says, "just hold on…"

For a brief second she wishes Bill would show up and fend them off like last time, but the instant the thought comes she banishes it from her mind because how messed up is that?

A/N Thanks so much for reading, you guys have really made me happy! Please let me know what you think! Any feedback you have to give, good or bad, means so much to me!

And if you haven't already, be sure to check out "Made Me Realize" if you're curious about the other timeline.